AOC slams Twitter's new verification process for journalists, politicians

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., complained Wednesday that Twitter's new $8 a month verification process would make tracking public conversations with journalists and other outlets more complicated.

In a Twitter post, Ocasio-Cortez questioned if the platform's new verification process means that strangers can just pay to get into their mentions tab. She argues that such parameters will make it almost impossible to track after public conversations with journalists, outlets, and others. She noted that Instagram has a similar issue that makes that platform unusable. She argued that such a system would foster an environment of harassment on Twitter, particularly of women and others. THREAT SAYS RELATIONSHIP FOX Business Digital reached out to Twitter. Elon Musk, Tesla's new owner, fired about half of the company's staff days ahead of the midterm elections.

The site's current system of using blue checks to verify an account's authenticity will soon go away for those who don't pay a monthly fee. Since 2009, the platform's verification system has been in place and was created to make sure high-profile and public-facing accounts are who they say they are.

Some people have expressed concern that making the checkmark available to anyone for a fee could lead to impersonations and the spread of misinformation and scams. Musk has already overseen a crackdown on impersonators during his short time on Twitter.

There are about 423,000 verified accounts under the outgoing system. Many of them belong to celebrities, businesses and politicians.

Some of the verified accounts belong to individual journalists, some with little followings in local newspapers and news sites around the world. The idea was to verify reporters so that they wouldn't be used to push false information on Twitter.

Musk, who often bristles at critical news coverage, pushed back Wednesday against the tool, saying he wanted to elevate citizen journalism and the voice of the people over publications he suggested had too much influence on the Western narrative.